Van drivers' January playlist needs diversifying

I'd quite like you to compare my taste in music to that of other van drivers. Over the years, from Ford Escort van, through to Ford Transit van and my new Transit Connect, I've been through a good many cassettes, CDs and, now, digital playlists.
During that time I've listened to all kinds of music – from Mozart's Don Giovanni and Beethoven's Emperor Concerto to Radiohead's OK Computer and Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U.
So I was a little disappointed to learn recently that according to one survey, van drivers have chosen to shake off the January blues with Queen's Don't Stop Me Now and Rihanna's Only Girl in the World.
It's not that I have anything against either of these tracks, per se. Instead, it's my concern that of the 1,000 van drivers surveyed, an astonishing 64% chose the Queen track. Does this mean that us van drivers have suddenly all become clones unable to think for ourselves?!
Me? For my January blues I'm going to be ramping up the reggae or raising the roof with Rachmaninoff.

Don't take away my extra time!

I frequently find that there are never enough hours in the day to get everything I want done, and I was absolutely bamboozled when I found out that experts of great power have actually been adding a few seconds to our clocks every now and then.

What's more, it seems that these extra 'leap' seconds may actually come to a stop if some countries have their way.

Now, I won't go into the technicalities behind these added seconds as it seems complicated and I don't really understand it myself, but it has something to do with the Earth sometimes moving round faster than it does on other days.

Countries including France, Germany and the US want leap seconds to be abolished while the UK, China and Canada have different views and want to keep them.

Well, in my opinion, anything that gives me a bit of extra time should stay.

I already struggle to get everywhere I need to be on time in my van, and for all I know these extra leap seconds may have allowed me to complete all sorts of jobs I wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to get finished.

Mind you, if the abolition does happen, it won't be until 2018, so although I may not be able to notice when leap seconds are slipped in, at least I have a good few years to make the most of them.

Landing on water

Compare if you will my flight on a recent trip to visit my good friends in the Netherlands, the Van den Borrens, with the flight experienced by a group of British Airways Trans Atlantic passengers.
There was I, sitting back in business class sipping chardonnay and picking at Olives on a trouble-free 45-minute transit, while my fellow flyers were somewhere over the ocean between London and Miami hearing the following message: "This is an emergency, we will shortly be making an emergency landing … on water."
If you're wondering why you've not heard about this aviation incident it was because the whole thing turned out to be a false alarm caused by someone accidentally setting off an automated emergency message.
Understandably, many of the passengers on-board were upset, traumatised even. "We looked at each other and figured we were both about to die. Families with children were distraught and people were in tears. It was very distressing," one told the Daily Telegraph.
"Upset", "traumatised" – I think I would have suffered instant cardiac arrest, and if not I'd very probably now be in a straightjacket!
So, next time you're enjoying smooth airborne transit, whether you've on the way to visit the Van den Borrens in Holland, the Fords in the US or the Nissans in Japan, spare a thought for those whose aviation journeys compare unfavourably to yours.

Perry and Russell's moving van

Most modern pop culture just washes over me like so much sea-scum and doesn't really leave any imprint in my mind, but my daughter's been going on about Katy Perry and Russell Brand's break-up so much I can't help but know all about it!
It's been driving me mad to be honest – so what if they've divorced? Yes, it's unfortunate for a young couple to find that they're incompatible with one another, but it's not as if my daughter knows them personally.
However, one thing did catch my eye the other day that made me pick up one of my daughter's discarded magazines. She'd left it open on the sofa at a page with a photo of a moving van on it – the ex-lovebirds moving out of the nest they'd made together.
What made me sit and look at that page for so long that my daughter came back in and thought I'd been reading it – that will happen when they open Hell's first ice-rink – was that despite knowing my van makes quite well I just couldn't make out what type of van "Wetzel and Sons" was using.
I even got the magnifying glass out to try and see the logo on the front, but it just made me see the low printing resolution of the page all the clearer. Very frustrating.
Anyway, enough of this Perry and Brand stuff! I hope that girl quietens down about it soon or I'll have to start wearing my earplugs.

Upgrading my handset and my lifestyle

Although I'm not usually that interested in the newest and brightest technologies, I have been keeping an eye out for smart phones recently as the time has finally come for an upgrade on my phone contract.
Of course I want the basic phoning and texting functions to be up to scratch, but all the phenomenal new features available have made me wonder if I could really make use of a top of the range mobile phone.
The thing is, my job means that life isn't exactly easy on my phone and it isn't uncommon for me to drop my phone more than once in a month – so I don't want to risk shattering an expensive piece of kit and consequently reverting back to my old boring handset.
However, after doing a bit of browsing online, I discovered that regardless of which new phone I choose to buy, I would more than likely be able to buy a tough phone case to fit it which can help to protect it from the shock of a fall. It looks like there is hope after all!
So I am now waiting for the delivery of my new, all singing, all dancing smart phone. It takes high quality photos, receives emails, holds hundreds of songs and even has a sat-nav to help me out whenever I get lost in the van!
What's more, it will still have the ability to make calls and receive texts – mind you, that's only if I have enough battery-life left over!

No New Year diet for me

Now that the Christmas and New Year celebrations are all over, the January blues have officially set in. My wife is telling anyone who will listen about her New Year diet (although I'm expected to turn a blind eye whenever a stash of chocolate mysteriously disappears) and I'm having an absolute nightmare every evening trying to kick the kids off the Xbox so I can watch my favourite TV programme.

Fortunately, I have means for escape! Regardless of what time of year it is, my Ford Transit always runs like a dream, and surprisingly, the first month of 2012 has been booming with work activity for me.

I have no concerns about those few pounds I may have accidently put on during the festivities as by business has had me running around like a headless chicken, helping people out here, there and everywhere. And what's more, my no-claim bonus has come into its own and I have managed to find a very reasonable van insurance quote for the New Year.

So no matter what the nasty January weather is planning to throw at me, there's no way I'm going to allow myself to wallow in post-Christmas depression – especially when we still have two bottles of Irish cream left over!